Durbin says China needs to cool down North Korea

4/14/13 9:48 AM EDT

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said Sunday China needs to intervene to get North Korea to back of threats to use a nuclear weapon.

"We’re turning primarily to China and saying it’s time for you to step up and show some leadership in this part of the world," the Illinois Democrat said on "Fox News Sunday." "We need to the Chinese to tell the North Koreans that if they want to continue this kind of escalation of rhetoric, it’s at the expense of the safety of this world as well as their own economy."

Before discussions of trading aid for disarmament can begin, Durbin said North Korea needs to take goodwill steps.

"We want to see some positive measures from the North Koreans that brings down this hot rhetoric we’ve seen in the last few weeks," he said.